Mawlana began by reminding us to recite A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem to flee from Shaytan and its armies, to never allow Shaytan to come close to you, to never befriend Shaytan under any circumstances, for it is the worst of companions for a human being to have.

Mawlana then continued with Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem, and recited, “Oh Allah, we are thankful to You for having created us, and we prostrate (sujud) only to You.” Mawlana reminded us not to bow in worship to anyone, besides Allah. It is a Divine Command, to bow only to Him in worship, and to none other.

There are 14 Ayahs in the Qur’an where it is recommended to make sajdah (prostration) after reading them. It is also encouraged to start the reading of the Qur’an with a prostration, and to end the reading of the entire Qur’an (khatm), with a prostration as well. You may even prostrate for every Holy verse in the Holy Qur’an!

Allah had created each human being as a unique entity. Each creature has been given its own special individual tasks and duties – hence every human being has a responsibility towards His Lord Almighty. Look at how Great and Magnificent Allah is – the Lord has given each creature a special and unique existence, and He is the only One who understands the real identity of every created being. No two humans have identical personalities or responsibilities – each one is special, everyone in mankind is 100% different from the next human being.

Such knowledge belongs to the hearts, and not to the minds – it is impossible to study it from a book, but it must be bestowed by Allah into the hearts of believers – that is why a Hadeeth Qudsistates that ‘the Heavens and Earth cannot contain Allah, but the heart of a believer can.’ (See suhbah dated 20/04/10). That means, no one besides Allah, knows the real identity of a human heart!

A portion of humans hear advice but cannot understand, as their hearts have been sealed towards the truth – qulubuna ghulfun. (See suhbah dated 25/03/10). Mawlana urged humans to open their hearts to the Oceans of understanding that lie just beyond their locked hearts. Each heart is given the gift of being able to understand – some humans understand with the help of a reason/means (asbab), others do not need one.

Allah, Creator of Mankind, bestows understanding on Man by means of their Prophets. The Nations of each Prophet needed a means – in each case their means was their respective Prophets. The Prophets themselves needed no means, despite being given one from the heavens. Prophets are special creations that can carry such ‘high voltages’ without damage.

Mawlana illustrated this by referring to a power station sending out electricity that is used to light our lamps (hearts). If we tried to tap electricity directly from the powers station, the high voltage would injure or kill us, but the wires that run from the power station to our lamps, are designed to carry such high voltages safely, so we must acquire our electrical needs via these wires. Similarly, Sayyidina Jibrail (as) brought heavenly powers to this Earth, and this was meant to be sent to the hearts of Mankind, via the hearts of the Prophets. So we are in need of the heavenly wires (hearts of Prophets) to carry the heavenly powers (guidance/knowledge) to our own hearts, as we do not have the capacity to take directly from heavenly sources.

Heavenly Commands that descend upon Man order him to bow and prostrate to Allah! When you are reading or listening to the Qur’an, you are in touch with Heavenly Declarations, so bow to the Commands, prostrate to Allah Almighty. Your prostration of worship and adoration must be solely for Allah Jalla JallÄluhu. There are so many secrets contained within these Divine Commands, so it is only fitting that a servant must prostrate to Allah when reading the Qur’an. Mawlana exhorted to teachers, to command their flocks to prostrate to Allah in worship, and to bow to and to obey none other than Him.

It is true that we bow and prostrate to Allah in our daily prayers, but we must understand why we bow, to whom we are bowing to, when to bow, and where our bowing should be directed to. No doubt we see Muslims praying from East to West all around the globe, but in reality, who are they really bowing down to and obeying all day? In his 24 hours existence each day, who is Man really bowing to, who is he working for, who is he serving obediently, and who is he submitting to? To Allah only or to dunya? We must clean ourselves of the filth of dunya, and not run to that dirtiness! That is why, at the start of the suhbah, Mawlana said that Shaytan was the worst companion to befriend, because so many humans have chosen dunya over Allah, upon the urging and advice of their ‘good friend’ and ‘sincere adviser’, Shaytan.

So many Muslim preachers have left out this crucial point from their teachings – that Man must be devoutly obedient and submit only to Allah. He must seek Allah, not dunya. Unfortunately, so many teachers or preachers themselves are thinking about their dunya, how are they to clean the stain of the dirtiness of dunya from their followers, which is their duty?

Man has descended into a creature that seeks the filth of this dunya all day – in almost every moment of their lives (even while praying!), they are with dunya and its corruption! Prostration and bowing to Allah are not just physical acts during prayer, it is an act of submission of your hearts and souls every moment of each day!

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) has delivered his responsibilities he had taught us. What about us, have we fulfilled our responsibilities? Have we no fear about the Day of Resurrection? Allah will question each leader and teacher and guide – to where they had directed their followers, towards Allah, or towards dunya? They will be questioned, as to what they had taught their students/followers. And all who abandoned Allah will be asked, “Why did you seek dunya and its worthless treasures?” Our Holy Prophet (saw) had said, “The qiblah (direction of worship) of my Nation in the last days (Akhiru az-zaman), will be their women, not the Ka’abah!” Look at how true his words are today!

Mawlana says that there are two types of bamboo – one that is hollow and one that is filled with sweetness, like sugar cane. If you are the bamboo that is filled with sweetness, you must give of that sweetness to your followers/students, so that they find pleasure in reciting and ‘tasting’ the Holy Qur’an! How many of the people of this Earth are Muslims? And from these Muslims, how many can read the Qur’an? And from those who can read it, how many do actually read it? And from those who read it, how many find pleasure in doing so? All humans are running after dunya, they have no time to take pleasure from the Qur’an!

Teachers must not be afraid to speak the truth, even if it is bitter for their followers to accept. They must teach their followers that their lives will be devoid of Divine blessings if they oppose the Shariah of Allah – people must be told this truth, that they will not have a good life if they are not good servants of Allah! Never fear to preach the truth. If Allah protects you, nothing can harm you. But if Allah were to send down Divine Chastisement and Punishment upon you, who can stop it and save you? When Allah sent the mosquitoes to destroy Nimrod and his armies, was anyone able to step forward to save them?

Shaytan, dunya, your desires (hawwa) and your ego are your four mortal enemies, of which Shaytan is the most cruel and vicious one. They seek to drag you away from obedience to Allah. Do not bow or prostrate to them! Bow and prostrate only to Allah, and bow to the guidance of those who represent Allah on Earth!

Seek His representatives who will guide you on that path. Such ones (Sadiqeen) are those who have emptied themselves of these four enemies, and what they speak to you is not from themselves, but from Divine inspirations. Just like a bamboo that is made into a flute, the bamboo must be hollowed out first before a musician can blow through it to produce a beautiful note. The music that is produced does not belong to the flute – the flute is merely an empty bamboo that is used to produce such inspirations – the notes belong to the master musician who is blowing through the hollow pipes.

So if you are a sugar-filled bamboo, seek to give of that sweetness to others so that they ‘taste’ the wonders of reading the Qur’an, and you yourself must then become a hollow/empty bamboo (after giving of that sweetness),so that Divine Breaths may blow through your flute.